Have you ever wondered why human disease outbreaks happen, how they are detected and what methods are used to contain them? We will study and discuss some classic outbreak investigations (e.g., 1918 Influenza pandemic and 1976 outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease) to obtain a better understanding of how local, state and federal epidemiologists work together to control these outbreaks. Try your hand at solving a mock outbreak with your classmates. Mary Proctor is a retired professor of medical microbiology.